Clifford the Big Red Dog: New Animated Series Coming to PBS Kids and Amazon

by Cindy McLennan, May 18, 2018

(Courtesy of PBS)

Decades ago, Lassie Come Home was a pretty big feature film, but this news about an on-screen dog is even bigger — at least in physical size. Scholastic is rebooting the beloved, animated Clifford the Big Red Dog TV show for PBS Kids and Amazon Prime, with a start date TBD in 2019. The updated series is based on the character created by the late author and illustrator Norman Bridwell, who published his first Clifford the Big Red Dog book in 1963.

The original Clifford the Big Red Dog premiered on PBS in the year 2000 and ran for three seasons. The late John Ritter voiced the title character. A prequel, Clifford’s Puppy Days ran from 2003 to 2006 and featured the vocal talents of Lara Jill Miller and Henry Winkler.

Would this be considered a reboot or a re-woof? (O.K., we’ll stop now.)

But “Clifford The Big Red Dog,” the animated children’s series based on the books that began in 1963 by Norman Bridwell, is coming back to television in Fall 2019, Scholastic will announce on Wednesday. It will run concurrently on Amazon Prime and PBS Kids, bringing back the lovable red dog who grows from a small puppy to one larger than a house.

“There is something enduring in Clifford’s gentle, loyal spirit that touches fans even after they become adults,” Iole Lucchese, the executive producer of the series, said in a statement. “We see it in tributes on social media and in fan art, and of course, in every parent who grew up with Clifford and now shares their love of him with their preschoolers..”

What do you think? Did you watch the original Clifford the Big Red Dog TV show? Will your family check out the updated version on PBS and Amazon?